My quality Quintillus antoninianus

[Gumrum]

Hello all,

I recently made my last coin purchase of the year, which was fortunately a coin I've looked forward to owning since beginning the hobby early this year! Behold, my (in my opinion) fabulous example of a antoninianus of the short-lived Emperor Quintillus!

Antoninianus of Emperor Quintillus, from the mint of Mediolanum, c. 270 CE, RIC V Quintillus 58
Obv: Bust of Quintillus, radiate, draped, right | IMP QVINTILLVS AVG | Imperator Quintillus Augustus. [Supreme commander Quintillus, emperor]
Rev: Mars, standing left, holding olive-branch in right hand and spear in left hand | MARTI PACI | Mars Pacatori [Mars at peace]

For those who've been collecting Roman Coins for any period of time, you'll understand just how hard it is to find examples of Claudius II's unfortunate brother that are in a good (for the 3rd Century) condition, but I do believe this example is amongst some of the better pieces I've ever seen for this short-lived and somewhat obscure Emperor.

This portrait is nice and crisp, with some really good details. Additionally, whilst the reverse's legends aren't great, I feel the portrayal of Mars makes this coin stand out from the more common (as far as Quintillus is concerned) examples I've seen.

As mentioned before, an example of Quintillus has always been an objective of mine. It was an aureus of Quintillus, whose short reign interested me when first learning about Rome and its Emperors in more depth that peaked my interest to all things Roman coins, so for me, he's the beginning of this new hobby of mine!

I welcome your thoughts on this coin!

- Gumrum

[ominus1]

indeed!  🙂

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

The flans of Quintillus tend to be small and ragged, it's rare to see one over 3 grams I would say. Also Quintillus' issue included a large amount of Divo Claudio types in addition to his own coinage. Nice example. 

 

 

[Qcumbor]

Beautiful example to say the least. Well done

I have 3/4 of the same type as yours ^^

Quintillus, Antoninianus - Mediolanum mint, AD 270
IMP QUINTILL[VS AVG], radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
[M]ARTI PACI, Mars standing left, holding olive branch and spear
2.8 gr
Ref : RCV # 11447,

Q

[John Conduitt]

Yep. His are hard to find in anything but awful. Yours is great.

Quintillus Antoninianus, 270

Rome. Silver, 17mm, 2.62g. Radiate and cuirassed bust right; (IMP C M AVR CL) QVINTILLVS AVG. Apollo standing left, holding branch and lyre; (APOLLI)NI CONS; (H in exergue) (RIC V.1, 9). From the Pamphill Hoard 2011, Portable Antiquities Scheme IARCH-A0FF78 and IARCH-38ABF3.
 

Posthumous Claudius II (under Quintillus) Antoninianus, 270

Mediolanum. Silver, 16-18mm, 2.29g. Bust of Claudius Gothicus, radiate, draped, right; DIVO CLAVDIO. Altar with flames above, crescent on side; CONSECRATIO (RIC V.1, 261). Found in Kent.

[Coinmaster]

Congrats! This is indeed a great coin, I hope you can enjoy it for many years.

This is a nice writing about the life of this emperor: https://web.archive.org/web/20211005231050/http://www.roman-emperors.org/quintil.htm

I find it interesting how several mints where able to produce coins with the same portret of Quintillus - in regard of his short term reign. I think this could be done when the mints where sent marble portraits or other kind of imagery (like paintings or coin examples) of the emperor.

[Furryfrog02]

That is one of the nicer Quintillus I have seen. Sharp design, relatively well centered with most of the legends, what looks to be some silvering left. Very nice!

Here is my only Quintillus, pulled from an uncleaned lot. The only nice part is his hair.

[Orange Julius]

That’s a great coin, and I love coins of this era from Milan. I have a few nice Quintillus coins and a lot of rough ones. Here’s the five I have photographed. I absolutely love the handlebar mustache on the first one. 

Edited November 19, 2024 by Orange Julius

[Furryfrog02]

There seems to be a common thread between all of these coins and it is the hair. It seems like the engravers paid a lot of attention to his hair. Just an observation.

[CPK]

Excellent coin @Gumrum and unusually well-made. Congrats!

20 minutes ago, Furryfrog02 said:

There seems to be a common thread between all of these coins and it is the hair. It seems like the engravers paid a lot of attention to his hair. Just an observation.

It must have been an unusual defining characteristic. Kind of like Nerva's nose.

[panzerman]

Nice example!

I have only one.....

John

[DLTcoins]

16 hours ago, Furryfrog02 said:

There seems to be a common thread between all of these coins and it is the hair. It seems like the engravers paid a lot of attention to his hair. Just an observation.

Even if the legend is obscured, you can tell Quintillus from Claudius by the disco-era pin curl perm.

[Tejas]

That is a very beautiful Quintillus, congratulation.

I like Quintillus' coins and I have 39 of them:

Quintillus - Sammlung von Münzen - Antike - Römische - Imperial und Republik

The coin below is a bit of a mystery to me. This portrait type appears to be unpublished and it may be unique. It diverges signficantly from all portraits of the emperor, but the depictions are well executed suggesting that the coin was issued by the 3rd officina of the mint of Rome.

 

Roman Empire - Quintillus (270 A.D.) BI Silvered antoninianus (2,71 g. 19 mm.) Rome mint. 270 A.D.

IMP C M AVR CL QVINTILLVS AVG Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust of Quintillus to right

VICTORIA AVG Victory advancing right, holding wreath in right hand and palm in left; Γ to right

Normanby 1152. RIC 33. RIC V.1 Online temp. 1137

nEF. Superb portrait.

 

 

 

[Gumrum]

Thanks everyone for sharing your examples of Quintillus! I’d love to see others’ examples, as I feel ol’ Quintillus is one of those coins that are so hard to find in nice condition, that seeing a good one can be a real treat!

So I certainly welcome others to make this thread into a bit of a ‘show off your Quintillus’ party! 

[Roman Collector]

Amazing portrait, @Gumrum! Mine is very humdrum. 

[rasiel]

9 hours ago, Tejas said:

That is a very beautiful Quintillus, congratulation.

I like Quintillus' coins and I have 39 of them:

Quintillus - Sammlung von Münzen - Antike - Römische - Imperial und Republik

The coin below is a bit of a mystery to me. This portrait type appears to be unpublished and it may be unique. It diverges signficantly from all portraits of the emperor, but the depictions are well executed suggesting that the coin was issued by the 3rd officina of the mint of Rome.

 

Roman Empire - Quintillus (270 A.D.) BI Silvered antoninianus (2,71 g. 19 mm.) Rome mint. 270 A.D.

IMP C M AVR CL QVINTILLVS AVG Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust of Quintillus to right

VICTORIA AVG Victory advancing right, holding wreath in right hand and palm in left; Γ to right

Normanby 1152. RIC 33. RIC V.1 Online temp. 1137

nEF. Superb portrait.

 

 

 

Wow, very interesting indeed! I don't believe it's from Rome. This is a mint in Gaul, or made by die cutter formerly in the employ of Postumus.

Rasiel

[shanxi]

An example from Alexandria:

Quintillus
Alexandria
Tetradrachm
Obv.: A K M A KΛ KVINTIΛΛOC CEB, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev.: L–A (year 1), Eagle standing right, head left, holding wreath in beak
AE, 8.42 g, 20.5 mm
Ref.: Dattari 5419, Milne 4298, Geissen 3050

[Gumrum]

15 hours ago, Tejas said:

That is a very beautiful Quintillus, congratulation.

I like Quintillus' coins and I have 39 of them:

Quintillus - Sammlung von Münzen - Antike - Römische - Imperial und Republik

The coin below is a bit of a mystery to me. This portrait type appears to be unpublished and it may be unique. It diverges signficantly from all portraits of the emperor, but the depictions are well executed suggesting that the coin was issued by the 3rd officina of the mint of Rome.

 

Roman Empire - Quintillus (270 A.D.) BI Silvered antoninianus (2,71 g. 19 mm.) Rome mint. 270 A.D.

IMP C M AVR CL QVINTILLVS AVG Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust of Quintillus to right

VICTORIA AVG Victory advancing right, holding wreath in right hand and palm in left; Γ to right

Normanby 1152. RIC 33. RIC V.1 Online temp. 1137

nEF. Superb portrait.

 

 

 

A very nice, and certainly enigmatic coin you have here!

The more examples I see of Quintillus' coinage, the more he grows on me...! I think his coins are the perfect combination of distinct (we've already discussed how engravers made sure to get his curly locks right!), rare (as far as nice examples are concerned) and historically interesting (given that they're for an Emperor who succeeded and preceded two very important 3rd Century Emperors)

Thanks for sharing!

[Orange Julius]

8 hours ago, shanxi said:

An example from Alexandria:

Quintillus
Alexandria
Tetradrachm
Obv.: A K M A KΛ KVINTIΛΛOC CEB, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev.: L–A (year 1), Eagle standing right, head left, holding wreath in beak
AE, 8.42 g, 20.5 mm
Ref.: Dattari 5419, Milne 4298, Geissen 3050

I’ve always wanted a nice Alexandrian of Quintillus! They’re hard to find in good condition. That’s a beauty, congratulations!

[galeriusmaximinus]

Here are my antoniniani of Quintillus of Milan, Rome, and Cyzicus mint. I like the Milan style most which we also see on the very nice piece of Gumrum.

[Gumrum]

7 hours ago, galeriusmaximinus said:

Here are my antoniniani of Quintillus of Milan, Rome, and Cyzicus mint. I like the Milan style most which we also see on the very nice piece of Gumrum.

Wow, these are some great examples! Am I right in thinking that your examples aren’t fully silvered, but are instead pictured in a way that makes them appear that way?

If I’m wrong and your examples are fully silvered, that’s very impressive and I’d love to see some more pictures!

[GregH]

I agree that it's difficult to find a nice Quintillus. Mine is from Cyzicus mint - my main reason for buying it is that it wasn't completely decrepit like 95% of what's on the market. A nice flan, nice portrait - well worth over-paying for!

 

[mc9]

This is one of my coins from Quintillius :

IMP C M AVR CL QUITILLVS AVG : radiate, drapped and cuirassed bust right

APOLLINI CONS |A / : Apollo standing right holding laurel - branch and lyre on rock

 ANTONINIANUS ; AD 270 ; ROME mint ; RIC 5a nr 9 ; 3,15 gr ; 19,91 mm

 

[savitale]

Quietus is difficult indeed. The ones on here are among the nicest portraits that exist, I believe. I'm not sure I will ever fill that hole in my collection.